Tesco cuts Clubcard points for recycling

Tesco has stopped issuing Clubcard points for materials such as plastic and glass put into its recycling machines after people were cutting items such as plastic bottles to get more points.

The machines are installed at about 40 stores in England and one in Scotland.

Most machines awarded one point for every four recycled items. Now Green Clubcard points will only be issued for aluminium cans.

A Tesco spokeswoman told BBC News: When we first installed the recycling centres we trialled different points systems at different locations, including points for plastic bottles.

Unfortunately, this sometimes resulted in a system being misused with plastic items cuts up into many small pieces in order to gain additional points, which we were unable to sustainably award points for.

Last year a couple from Hampshire collected recyclable items to gain points to use for air miles for their honeymoon (see MRW story).

That was 2018 – the year when China’s ban on most waste material imports really showed how decisions in one country can affect those on the other side of the world, as the UK and others scrambled to find alternative capacity.

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